Richmond, TX
Quoted from sd_tom:It's probably that plus the fact that the module playfield is static and not luminous like the front part of the game. There is a stark transition. I noticed in the video just above that all the renderings of the game have the module playfield matched with the screen playfield , when in reality this is not the case and can't be completely overcome due to the lumosity transition even if you had the exact imagery; it just gets that much worse when they areas don't even look the same in something like LL where there's different modes creating an even larger aesthetic difference between the module and the screen. I.e., there's a lot of disjointness going on.
Hi, I'm Stephen, and I make all the promotional videos for Multimorphic, including the animated modularity video you referenced and the latest announcement video for the 5 launch titles.
Regarding the modules being matched to the playfield screen in the modularity video, it's actually the opposite going on. Since the purpose of that video was to highlight the design possibilities of the platform rather than specific future games, all of the modules shown were whitewoods paired with the launcher screen. No matching was actually going on.
But to address your main point about the play fields seeming so different from the screen, I can tell you in person they actually look really great together. It is really hard to capture on video things like backlit screens in a way that accurately reflects how we see them in their environment. When you expose the camera for the screen, surrounding elements that look fine to your eye can look really dark to the camera's image sensor. We compensate during shoots by pumping in extra light to the back playfield, but really, it always is going to look different in person. The luminosity is indeed different, but your eyes and brain are way better at compensating for that difference than any camera will ever be. The reason those scenes in the modularity video seemed to match better is that they were 100% 3D renders and we didn't have to worry about camera sensors struggling to expose everything properly.
In my opinion, the playfield art and plastics on Lexy look great with the screen in person, and to the player everything fits together well for the main playfield map. In fact, if you watch the skip able intro video all the way through, the camera sweeps back from the crash site and pulls out until the playfield lines up perfectly with the upper playfield when the video ends and the game starts. It's really is a nice effect. Now it is true that when you play different modes the art no longer matches, but in my experience, you are wrapped up in the game and never notice it. Ymmv, but I have never heard anyone complaining about that disconnect, because quite frankly, how cool is it that we actually can change the whole freakin playfield to match the mode-specific gameplay stories? It is way more cool than just having mode changes reflected in flashing lights and music changes.
The biggest disconnect happens when you are playing different game software that doesn't match the playfield theme, but again, it really isn't that big of a deal because you are almost always looking at the information on the big screen.
So in short, try to seek it out at a show near you and try it in person. I think you'll like it.
